FINAL RESULTS: 2012 U.S. Women’s Amateur

Cleveland ““ Lydia Ko, 15, of New Zealand, defeated Jaye Marie Green, 18, of Boca Raton, Fla., 3 and 1, in Sunday’s final match to win the 2012 U.S. Women’s Amateur at the 6,512-yard, par-72 course at The Country Club.

The match was hard-fought and both players made very few mistakes. Ko, the No. 1 player in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking, took a 1-up lead to the lunch break. Then, with the aid of one shot she had never used in competition, took a 4-up lead after 26 holes and held on to win.

“I’ve won a medal at each of the three USGA tournaments I played in (this summer),” Ko said. “So it’s pretty good.”

Ko’s U.S. Women’s Amateur medal will go with those for being low amateur in the 2012 U.S. Women’s Open and reaching the semifinal round of the 2012 U.S. Girls’ Junior.

One hole down at the start of the afternoon round, Green began firing at the flagsticks but missed birdie putts of less than 10 feet on the first four holes. Her only really poor shot came at the 24th hole when her drive hit a tree on the right, ricocheted across the fairway and dropped down into a thicket of trees in high grass in the right rough.

“I should have stepped away from it,” Green said. “I just flubbed it. It was the biggest shot I missed in all 11 rounds of golf this week.”

Green took two swipes at the ball in the rough. When it didn’t come out, she conceded the hole, giving her opponent a 2-up lead. She would lose three straight holes.

On the 25th, Ko showed off her great touch around the greens on a 60-foot chip. Her ball rolled, broke to the left and fell into the hole. She was now 3 up.

Ko’s approach on the par-5 26th cut through the wind and stopped within 1 foot of the hole. She made a birdie to Green’s par and went 4 up.

But Green had discovered a slight flaw in her golf swing during the lunch break and she began to play aggressively.

“I was really excited,” Green said. “So, starting at the 27th, I started going for the stick.”

On that par-3 hole, Green’s ball sailed over the flagstick, dropped and settled within 6 feet of the hole. Ko’s ball landed in a greenside bunker. Ko faced a difficult 20-yard shot. She had a downhill lie on damp sand and would have to carry the high lip of the bunker. She had only 12 feet of green to work with.

“I told my dad, if Lydia got that up and down, I would be so impressed,” Green said.

As Ko surveyed the shot, her mother, Tina, said, “Try that flop bunker shot that you practice for fun. Be aggressive. Pretend it’s a practice shot.”

Ko hit her ball out in a spray of sand. It rolled over the edge of the hole. From deep in the bunker, Ko could not see the results but when she heard applause, she knew her ball would be close. It was 3 feet from the hole.

Green’s birdie putt lipped out, and Ko tapped in for a par. She had preserved her 4-up lead with nine holes to play.

Green cut into the lead on the 29th hole. Ko three-putted, made bogey and her lead was reduced to 3 up. At the 31st, Green rolled another 20-foot birdie putt over the edge of the hole and Ko nearly made a 12-footer.

Three holes down with five holes to play, Green desperately needed some magic. When Ko missed her 18-foot birdie putt, Green faced a 10-footer for a winning birdie. Once again, Green’s putt rolled over the edge and stayed out.

“When those putts at the 31st and 32nd holes lipped out, I wanted to cry,” Green said after the match.

Green finally won another hole when she hit the green of the 454-yard, par-5 34th with a tremendous second shot that rolled to within 25 feet of the hole. Green two-putted for a birdie. Ko could only muster a par.

But Ko was now dormie-2. She played a safe 3-wood shot down the middle of the fairway on the par-4 35th hole. Green’s 3-wood skipped down a hill, leaving her with a 60-yard approach shot to a green high above. Ko hit safely on but Green was in a muddy spot and her wedge stuck in the turf and the shot was short.

When Green couldn’t get down in two from high grass next to a bunker, Ko two-putted for a par to win the hole and the match.

Despite the loss, Green was thrilled by the final match and a responsive gallery of several hundred spectators.

“Oh my gosh, I don’t want this day to end,” she said. “I’ve never had that people be so supportive. Lydia has such a great attitude, in that she laughs at everything and she’s fun to play with.”

Ko, inspired by her most recent successes in amateur golf, is in no hurry to change her life.

“I want to go to college, so turning professional isn’t a priority,” she said. “There are so many things to learn as an amateur.”

At 15 years, three months and 18 days, Ko is the second-youngest champion in Women’s Amateur history. The record is held by Kimberly Kim, who was 14 years, 11 months and 21 days of age when she won the 2006 Women’s Amateur.

SATURDAY RESULTS: Finalists Set At 2012 U.S. Women’s Amateur

Cleveland ““ Lydia Ko, 15, of New Zealand, and Jaye Marie Green, 18, of Boca Raton, Fla., won their semifinal matches on Saturday to advance to Sunday’s scheduled 36-hole championship final of the 2012 U.S. Women’s Amateur on the 6,512-yard, par-72 course at The Country Club.

Ko, the No. 1 player in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking, defeated Ariya Jutanugarn, 16, of Thailand, who is ranked No. 2 in the world, 3 and 1. Green, the lone American to make the semifinals, eased past Nicole Zhang, 20, of Canada, 2 up. Both players will be competing in their first USGA championship final.

The U.S. Women’s Amateur is one of 13 national championships conducted by the United States Golf Association, of which 10 are strictly for amateurs.

Coming off a wet course buffeted by 20-mph winds, both finalists were thrilled to be playing for the title.

“Just knowing I’m still in the running to be the United States champion gives me the chills,” said Green.

“Getting to the final feels really good,” Ko said. “My putts were rolling today, which really helps the confidence. This is amazing to beat such a great player.”

The long-hitting Jutanugarn, who won the 2011 U.S. Girls’ Junior, missed three putts inside of 6 feet that could have decided holes in her favor.

“She’s really a great player and an amazing putter,” Jutanugarn said of her opponent.

Ko went 2 up with a birdie at the par-3 11th but lost the par-5 12th to Jutanugarn’s birdie to see her lead shrink to 1 up. They halved the next two holes with pars.

Ko then finished with a flourish. She chipped in from 45 feet on the 15th for a birdie to halve the hole. At the 450-yard, par-5 16th, Ko hit the green in two shots and two-putted for another birdie to again go 2 up.

The deciding birdie came at the 17th. Jutanugarn missed the green while Ko hit her approach shot to within 8 feet of the hole. Jutanugarn made one stab at it, hitting a chip from deep, matted rough that went 60 feet right of the hole. She conceded Ko’s birdie putt to give the New Zealander the victory.

Green and Zhang had an epic struggle in which Zhang kept fighting back when all seemed lost. Green won the first hole to take a 1-up lead. When Zhang won the third hole, it was the only time in the encounter that the match was square. Zhang never led.

After Green birdied the par-3 11th, she was 3 up, but Zhang fought back.

“I hung in there the whole way,” Zhang said. “I didn’t give up at all.”

Zhang won the par-5 12th with a birdie and Green’s lead was trimmed to 2 up. At the 14th, a par 3, it looked as if Zhang would win another hole. Her ball was 20 feet from the hole, while Green sprayed her tee shot far to the right, some 90 feet from the hole and in the rough.

Green was as courageous as Zhang. She followed with a fine pitch shot over a bunker to within 6 feet of the hole. When Zhang missed her birdie putt, Green banged her putt into the back of the hole to retain her lead.

“To get up and down there, that definitely helped my confidence and kept me 2 up,” Green said.

Khang won the par-5 16th with a brave birdie. She challenged the fairway bunker on the right, cutting the dogleg and flying her tee shot some 60 yards past Green, who was in the bunker. Zhang hit the green in two shots, easily making a birdie to win the hole.

Green was now 1 up with two holes to play. They halved the 17th. At the par-4 18th, Khang had to win the hole to extend the match. Green’s approach shot came first and she hit a beauty that flew over the flagstick and nestled 18 feet from the hole.

Khang’s approach shot from 138 yards was right at the flag, but a gust of wind knocked the ball down, 10 feet short of the green. When Kang could not hole her chip, she conceded Green’s birdie putt and the match.

“She hung in there the whole time,” Green said of her opponent. “I feel like I’m dreaming.”

“You’re a machine,” Khang said to Green with a smile.

“You too,” Green replied.

At 15 years, 3 months and 18 days, Ko is the second-youngest finalist in Women’s Amateur history, and could become the second-youngest champion. Both records are held by Kimberly Kim, who was 14 years, 11 months and 21 days of age when she won the 2006 Women’s Amateur.

By virtue of reaching the championship final, Green and Ko each receive exemptions into the 2013 U.S. Women’s Open, provided they are still amateurs. The championship will be conducted at Sebonack Golf Club in Southampton, N.Y.

Results from Saturday’s semifinal round of match play at the 2012 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship, being conducted at the 6,512-yard, par-72 course at The Country Club:

Cleveland ““ Lydia Ko, 15, of New Zealand, the world’s No. 1-ranked amateur; Jaye Marie Green, 18, of Boca Raton, Fla.; Ariya Jutanugarn, 16, of Thailand; and Nicole Zhang, 20, of Canada advanced to the semifinals on Friday in the 2012 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship on the 6,512-yard, par-72 course at The Country Club.

The two semifinal matches will be played on Saturday with a 36-hole final scheduled for Sunday.

The U.S. Women’s Amateur is one of 13 national championships conducted by the United States Golf Association, of which 10 are strictly for amateurs.

Ko was 2 up at the turn in her match with Reto. At the par-5 12th, she made a 12-foot birdie putt to go 3 up. Reto fought in vain to win a hole. At the par-5 16th, Reto appeared to have a chance when she hit the green with her second shot and had a 16-foot putt for an eagle. Ko’s third shot, a chip, stopped within 12 feet of the hole. Reto missed the eagle attempt, and Ko made her putt for a matching birdie. The match ended on the 17th when Reto failed to birdie and conceded Ko’s birdie putt.

“Today was not my best. I didn’t hit it as close to the hole, but I shot 2-under-par, so it shows something was pretty good,” Ko said. “We both could have played better but, in the end, in match play, it doesn’t matter.”

Green got off to a nervous start against Navarro. She hit the turf behind the ball on her opening tee shot, yet it bounced some 220 yards down the fairway and she halved the hole with a par.

“After I chunked my drive on the first hole, I got rid of the jitters,” Green said.

Nearly holing a wedge shot on the par-5 second, Green’s ball spun to within 3 feet and she made the birdie putt to go 1 up. She was still 1 up at the turn, but Navarro squared the match with a birdie-3 on the 10th.

There was no change in the match until the 16th hole. Green hit the green of the 438-yard par 5 on her second shot and two-putted from 35 feet for a birdie to go 1 up. She won the match on the par-4 17th when the young Mexican Women’s Amateur champion couldn’t match her birdie.

Green has never advanced this far in a USGA national championship. While she qualified for the 2012 U.S. Women’s Open, she missed the cut.

“I was so excited when that last putt went in,” Green said of her victory on Friday. “It was like I could breathe again.”

Her father, Donnie Green, a teaching professional at Broken Sound Country Club in Boca Raton, is her caddie. While her father could offer expert advice, she prefers that he stay in a supportive role.

“I told him that, this week, I’d rather take the reins and it’s worked out great,” Green said.

Zhang’s close win over Oh sent one of the favorites to the sidelines. Oh had an impressive run of scoring in the early matches. She was 9-under-par for the 14 holes of her second match, and seemed poised to win again.

But Zhang was tenacious. After Oh took a 2-up lead at the sixth, Zhang holed a number of par-saving putts, including a 10-footer at the seventh for a half. At the ninth, she finally won a hole with one of those pars and another par on the 13th squared the match. On the 169-yard, par-3 14th, Zhang began a run of three birdies in four holes that would win the match. She hit a 5-iron to within 6 feet, made the putt and took the lead for the first time. At the 16th, she faced a 12-footer for another birdie.

“Walking up to the green, I knew if I made the putt and went 2-up, I could tie either of the last two holes to win the match,” Zhang said. She made the putt and the 17th was halved with birdies, giving Zhang the win.

After losing the match, Oh said, “I was just going through a little letdown. I hit the ball pretty bad, actually. I didn’t putt well, either.”

Jutanugarn’s 5-and-4 win over Lee was the largest winning margin of the semifinal round. She was 3 up at the turn and went 4 up on the 11th. At the 169-yard, par-3 14th, Jutanugarn laced a 6-iron shot to within 6 feet of the hole and made another birdie to go 5 up, ending the match.

“I tell myself I’m going to win it, not because I’m better than her, but to feel confident,” said the long-hitting youngster, the 2011 U.S. Girls’ Junior champion. “Everybody here has a chance to win it.

“I played OK. My irons were better than yesterday. Today, when I missed an iron shot, at least it was on the green.”

In Saturday’s semifinals, Zhang faces Green and Ko will play Jutanugarn. Never before have any of the four players advanced to the semifinal round at the Women’s Amateur.

Results from Friday’s quarterfinal round of match play at the 2012 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship, being conducted at the 6,512-yard, par-72 course at The Country Club:

Cleveland ““ Lydia Ko, 15, of New Zealand, the world’s No. 1-ranked amateur, advanced to the quarterfinals in the 2012 U.S. Women’s Amateur by winning two matches on Thursday, while medalist Hyo-Joo Kim, of Korea, was defeated in the third round at the 6,512-yard, par-72 course at The Country Club.

Ko scrambled out of deep rough on the 18th hole to outlast Celine Boutier, 18, of France, 1 up, in the round of 16. Nicole Zhang, 20, of Canada, defeated Kim, 1 up.

Match-play rounds continue on Friday with the four quarterfinal matches, with a 36-hole final scheduled for Sunday.

The U.S. Women’s Amateur is one of 13 national championships conducted by the United States Golf Association, of which 10 are strictly for amateurs.

Leading by one hole, Ko drove deep into the right rough on the 18th hole of her match with Boutier. The French player followed by hitting safely to the back of the green from the middle of the fairway. With a good lie and the match on the line, Ko aimed at the green with a pitching wedge. She missed it left and short, but avoided a greenside bunker.

Ko chipped to within 4 feet of the hole. When Boutier failed to make a 35-footer for birdie, Ko stroked the putt into the middle of the hole for the halve and the win.

“It was lucky,” said Ko, the low amateur at last month’s U.S. Women’s Open. “If I go in that bunker, it’s a hard shot.”

It was the second tough match Ko survived on Thursday. In the morning’s second round she defeated Amy Anderson, 20, of Oxbow, N.D., a 2012 USA Curtis Cup player and the 2009 U.S. Girls’ Junior champion, 3 and 2.

Zhang ended Kim’s hopes. Neither player led by more than one hole. Zhang took a 1-up lead at the 10th. Kim, playing in her first national match-play championship, won the 11th with a birdie, but the superb iron play she had used all week failed her in the closing holes. Zhang took the 13th with a par to go 1 up and held on to win by the same margin.

After morning rain softened the course, Zhang was hitting longer shots into the greens than she had all week. On holes where she had hit 7-irons under dry conditions, she was forced to use a 5-wood.

“I found it a lot more difficult because it was so wet,” Zhang said. “I managed to get it up and down and I’ve definitely liked my game the last few days.”

With the usual match-play concessions, Su-Hyun Oh, 16, of Australia, had the best scoring day. She was nine under par for 14 holes in her second-round 5-and-4 win Thursday morning over Maia Schechter, 19, of Takoma Park, Md. Oh defeated Jayvie Marie Agojo, 26, of the Philippines, in the third round, 4 and 3, and was two under par for the 15 holes.

This is Oh’s first start in the U.S. Women’s Amateur. “My goal was top 16,” she said. “Now, I’ll try to go as far as I can. My iron play was the best of my golf career. These are the best scores I’ve ever shot.”

In her morning match against Schechter, Oh nearly aced the 170-yard, par-3 ninth with a 5-iron, leaving it inches from the hole. On the 12th, she holed an 8-iron from 134 yards for an eagle-3.

Paula Reto, 22, of South Africa, became the oldest quarterfinalist when she defeated Jessica Vasilic, 16, of Anaheim Hills, Calif., 4 and 2. With Vasilic in the bunker, Reto was conceded an eagle-3 at the par-5 16th hole to win the match.

Reto’s short game kept her in the match. “I was a little all over the place today,” she said. “If I can just focus on my game and nobody else’s, I’ll be ok.”

Marijosse Navarro, 15, of Mexico, also advanced to the quarterfinals with a 3-and-1 victory over Madeleine Sheils, 22, of Boise, Idaho. Navarro won the Mexican Women’s Amateur, a stroke-play event, in 2010 and 2012.

Erynne Lee, the other remaining American, defeated Austin Ernst, 20, of Seneca, S.C., 2 and 1. Austin was a member of the 2012 USA Curtis Cup Team and the 2011 NCAA individual champion. Lee, an incoming sophomore at UCLA, advanced to the semifinals of the 2008 U.S. Women’s Amateur.

Against Ernst, Lee’s momentum came from a birdie at the 13th. She was 1 down when she fired her iron shot to within 3 feet of the hole, made the putt and squared the match.

“I started dialing in my shots,” Lee said. “Most of my irons were within 10 feet of the hole after that. My game has been on the last two days. Everyone’s dream is to be here and win the championship. I’m just glad to be here and see where it takes me.”

All eight quarterfinalists are exempt into the 2013 U.S. Women’s Amateur at the Country Club of Charleston.

Results

Cleveland ““ Results from Thursday morning’s second round of match play at the 2012 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship, being conducted at the 6,512-yard, par-72 course at The Country Club:

Cleveland ““ Medalist Hyo-Joo Kim, 17, of Korea, and Lydia Ko, 15, of New Zealand, the world’s No. 1-ranked player, advanced to the second round of match play in the 2012 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship on the 6,512-yard, par-72 course at The Country Club.

Also advancing were Amy Anderson, 20, of Oxbow, N.D., the 2009 U.S. Girls’ Junior champion and a member of the 2012 USA Curtis Cup Team, and Ariya Jutanugarn, 16, of Thailand, who won the 2011 U.S. Girls’ Junior.

Match-play rounds continue throughout the week with a 36-hole final scheduled for Sunday.

The U.S. Women’s Amateur is one of 13 national championships conducted by the United States Golf Association, of which 10 are strictly for amateurs.

Kim overwhelmed Megan Khang, 14, of Rockland, Mass., 7 and 6. Kim got off to a fine start, mastering the earlier holes that had bedeviled her in stroke-play qualifying. On the fifth, sixth and seventh, the hardest holes on the course, she made three birdie putts in the 20-foot range.

After winning the eighth and ninth with pars, Kim was 5 up at the turn.

The course was so firm that approach shots failed to leave ball marks on the greens and Kim’s soaring irons stopped closer to the hole than those of her younger opponent. On the 10th, with Kim’s ball lying 12 feet below the hole, Khang slashed an iron shot that nearly hit the flagstick but bounded to the back of the green, 45 feet away. They halved with fours.

On the 142-yard 11th, their balls were within a foot of each other, 25 feet from the hole. Khang was in a desperate position, 5 holes down with seven to play. Going for it, she sailed her putt 5 feet past the hole. She went on to three-putt, and Kim was 6 up.

Not as long as Khang off the tee, Kim nearly always hit the middle of the fairway. She drove perfectly on the par-5 12th, as did Khang. After good second shots, their wedge shots to the green were tentative and both missed short. Kim’s pitch was a good one, leaving an uphill putt of two feet. Khang’s effort stopped 4 feet short. After Khang’s putt skidded past the hole, Kim tapped in for a par and the win.

“My putter was working well today,” Kim said through an interpreter, her caddie, Euna Pak, a player who withdrew after the first qualifying round because of an elbow injury. “I’m happy with how I played today. With a match coming up tomorrow, I’ll try to get some rest.”

Simanton got off to a fast start with a birdie to win the first hole, but never again led in the match. At the second, Ko pulled all-square with a 3-foot birdie putt and went 1 up with a 12-footer for birdie at the fourth.

Ko’s pars won the sixth and seventh holes and she made a 15-footer for birdie to win the eighth and go 4 up. After an exchange of holes, Ko went 5 up with a birdie at the 13th and clinched the win on the 15th hole.

“My long game was fine and my putting felt good,” Ko said. “Although I misread a few putts, my stroke was good. In fact, everything was good.”

Ariya is the only remaining Jutanugarn sister still in the championship. The former U.S. Girls’ Junior champion outlasted Jennifer Yang, 18, of Korea, 3 and 1. Jutanugarn outhit Yang off the tee by 50 yards, but Yang was tenacious. Facing a two-hole deficit after the seventh, Yang squared the match at the ninth. Jutanugarn, however, won the 12th and 14th with birdies and the match ended on the 17th green.

“My driver helped me a lot,” Jutanugarn said, “but we had a tight match. Her chipping was great. I would hit a long drive, then I would hit my iron left of the green. I don’t know why I was pulling them. I’m going now to figure it out.”

Jutanugarn’s sister, Moriya, 18, runner-up in the 2011 U.S. Women’s Amateur, fell to Anderson, 1 up, in the most thrilling match of the first round.

Neither player had more than a 1-up lead. It was all-square at the 16th when Moriya Jutanugarn holed a 40-yard bunker shot for an eagle-3 on the 442-yard, par-5. But on the 377-yard 17th, she gave it back.

“The tees were back 40 yards so I hit my driver, but it went further than I thought I could hit it,” said Moriya Jutanugarn.

Her drive went 287 yards, but her ball landed in a deep, sand-filled divot from which she could not escape. With just part of the ball above the fairway surface, Jutanugarn hit the shot fat and bogeyed the hole to square the match.

At the par-4 18th, Anderson fired a beautiful iron shot to within 3 feet of the hole. She made the birdie to win, 1 up.

“It was a tough match,” Anderson said. “She’s obviously a very talented player. Coming in, I honestly felt like the underdog. I knew I would have to play my best to beat her.”

“Yeah, I’m disappointed, but it’s match play where anything can happen,” said Jutanugarn. “She played very good. It was fun.”

Other notables to advance include 2012 USA Curtis Cup Team members Austin Ernst and Lisa McCloskey, as well as 2012 Women’s Amateur Public Links runner-up Ashlan Ramsey and 2008 Girls’ Junior runner-up Karen Chung.Results from Wednesday’s first round of match play at the 2012 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship, being conducted at the 6,512-yard, par-72 course at The Country Club:

SECOND ROUND QUALIFYING RESULTS: Cleveland ““ Hyo-Joo Kim, 17, of Korea, claimed medalist honors at the 2012 U.S. Women’s Amateur with an 8-under-par score of 68-68″“136 at the 6,512-yard, par-72 course at The Country Club.

Lydia Ko, 15, of New Zealand, the No.1-ranked amateur in the world, finished one stroke back at 7-under-par 137. Ariya Jutanugarn, 16, of Thailand, the long-hitting 2011 U.S. Girls’ Junior champion, and Alison Lee, 17, of Valencia, Calif., qualified at 5-under-par 139.

The 2012 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship consists of 36 holes of stroke play followed by six rounds of match play, with the championship scheduled to conclude with a 36-hole final on Sunday at 8:30 a.m.

The U.S. Women’s Amateur is one of 13 national championships conducted annually by the United States Golf Association, 10 of which are strictly for amateurs.

Following stroke play, the field was cut to the low 64 scorers. The cut came at 5-over-par 149, with 15 players competing for the last 14 match-play berths.

Kim teed off on the second nine and birdied five of the first seven holes to turn in 31 strokes. She was 1-over-par on holes No. 1 through No. 9.

“I really played well on my first nine, but for the other nine I had a couple of mistakes,” Kim said through an interpreter. “I made the five birdies because I saw where I should aim it and it was exactly right. My irons were close to the hole.”

Ko struggled with her putter. She hit every green in regulation figures but had 36 putts, seven more than on Monday, when she fired a women’s course-record round of 66.

“If I’d putted as well as yesterday, I would have been seven or eight strokes better,” said Ko, the low amateur at last month’s Women’s Open. She narrowly missed tying for medalist honors when her 5-foot birdie putt on the 18th slid over the left edge of the hole.

“I’m not a bad putter, but now and then it happens,” Ko said.

Jutanugarn birdied the first three holes but a wayward tee shot on the sixth resulted in a double bogey.

“I’m playing so good today and I’m hitting my drives so good, then, ugh, I hit it left on six. Lost ball,” Jutanugarn said. She salvaged the round with birdies at the seventh and eighth, and collected two more against a single bogey coming in.

Ko and Jutanugarn are both seasoned competitors and eager for match-play rounds to begin.

“Last year I was medalist and lost in the second round, so hopefully I’ll go a lot further,” Ko said. “I came into this championship and knew I had a chance to win, and many other people do as well.”

Jutanugarn captured her first national match-play championship when she won the U.S. Girls’ Junior last year. “Before, when I played match play, I wasn’t sure,” she said. “When I won last year, I found it is so fun to play.”

On her run to medalist honors, Kim virtually mastered the second nine. She was eight-under par on the second nine with eight birdies for 36 holes. She is even par on the first nine. “My approach shots are not as good,” Kim said through an interpreter.

Kim is vying in only her second match-play competition and the first nine is a challenge. The fifth through seventh holes have baffled the field. Kim has so far made only three bogeys, but two of them came in that stretch of holes. Ko is 1-under-par for the same three holes.

Lee, who was runner-up in the 2012 U.S. Girls’ Junior in June, had five birdies against four bogeys on Tuesday. She combined a 71 with her opening round of 68 to finish at five under par.

Latanna Stone, of Valrico, Fla., at 10 the youngest qualifier in U.S. Women’s Amateur history, added a 78 to her opening 82 and missed the cut for match play by 11 strokes. Stone, however, was unfazed. “It was fun,” she said after her round. “I was a little bit nervous but it’s been a very, very good learning experience for me. I have a lot to do.”

Other notable players to miss the cut include 2012 Great Britain and Ireland Curtis Cup Team member and Ladies British Open Amateur Championship winner Stephanie Meadow and 2012 USA Curtis Cup Team member Erica Popson, as well as Sally Watson, who represented GB&I at the 2008 and 2010 Matches. Results from Tuesday’s second round of stroke play at the 2012 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship, being conducted at the 6,512-yard, par-72 course at The Country Club (* = involved in a 15-for-14 playoff):

Cleveland ““ Lydia Ko, 15, of New Zealand, shot 6-under-par 66 to lead after the first round of stroke-play qualifying on Monday at the 2012 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship (www.usga.org) at The Country Club.

Ko has a two-stroke lead over 2012 U.S. Girls’ Junior runner-up Alison Lee, 17, of Valencia, Calif., and Hyo-Joo Kim, 17, of Korea, after the opening round over the 6,512-yard, par-72 course. Brooke Mackenzie Henderson, 14, of Canada, is at 3-under-par 69.

The 2012 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship consists of 36 holes of stroke play followed by six rounds of match play, with the championship scheduled to conclude with a 36-hole final on Sunday at 8:30 a.m.

The U.S. Women’s Amateur is one of 13 national championships conducted annually by the United States Golf Association, 10 of which are strictly for amateurs.

Ko, a Korean-born New Zealander, is the top-ranked player in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking, co-conducted by the USGA and The R&A. Her record includes winning an Asian Ladies Professional Golf Tour event at the age of 14, as well as the 2011 and 2012 Australian Women’s Amateurs. She also finished as low amateur in the 2012 U.S. Women’s Open and reached the semifinals at the 2012 U.S. Girls’ Junior.

Starting on the outward nine, Ko began her good play on Monday with tap-in birdies at the 11th and 12th holes. “That was nice,” she said. “I didn’t have to think about the line.”

At the 13th she holed a 9-foot putt for a birdie, but then her birdies became more interesting. At the par-4 17th, she played a wedge from out of a divot to within 10 feet of the flagstick and made the birdie putt. At the par-5 second hole, Ko said she “pured” a 3-wood to within 6 feet on her second shot, then ran the eagle putt over the edge of the hole and settled for a birdie.

Finally, at the long and difficult par-4 seventh, Ko hit what she called a big 6-iron on her approach and the ball settled 25 feet from the hole. She banged the putt and her ball hit the hole, popped up, and fell in for her sixth birdie of the day.

“I was lucky in a few positions, but I didn’t play well because I was lucky,” Ko said. “I hit the ball near the hole and that’s why I played well.”

Ko’s 66 matches the round she shot last year as co-medalist and also matches the second-lowest score in Women’s Amateur history.

Lee is rebounding from a devastating loss at the 2012 U.S. Girls’ Junior in June, when she squandered a 3-up lead over Minjee Lee, of Australia, with just six holes to play, and lost, 1 up.

Lee got off to a fast start on Monday, sinking a 15-foot birdie putt on the first hole. A fine 5-iron approach to the par-3 fifth gave her another short birdie putt. At the seventh, she hit an 8-iron to within 35 feet of the hole and birdied. Using a 7-wood, Lee hit the green of the 453-yard, par-5 16th in two strokes and got down from 40 feet in two putts for a fourth birdie to finish at 68.

“I learned a lot from losing at the Girls’ Junior,” Lee said. “I’ve been doing my best not to grind, just rest and keep my energy up. I was able to feel the greens today. I played really freely. My mom (Sung Kim) was on the bag. She’s calm, so I was just trying to have fun out there.”

Kim finished fourth in the LPGA’s Evian Masters event two weeks ago and, like Ko, has won professional events, one each on the Japan LPGA Tour and Korean LPGA Tour. She will graduate from a foreign-language school in Korea next year. While this is her first USGA championship, she plans to turn pro in October.

“I just want to enjoy myself (this week),” Kim said through an interpreter. “I’m really excited. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun.”

But Kim said her round of 68 was “just so-so.” She put herself in difficult situations on the first nine after making birdies on the first two holes, but battled back with three birdies on the inward nine for her 68.

The Women’s Amateur is only Kim’s second amateur event. As a middle school student, she competed in a Korea vs. Japan match-play event and won the only match she played.

Henderson, like Ko and Kim, has fine credentials. Earlier this year she won a Canadian Women’s Professional Tour event, edging professional Lisa Ferrero, the 2000 U.S. Girls’ Junior champion. She jump-started her round of 69 with an eagle-2 on the 314-yard, par-4 third hole. From 70 yards, Henderson holed her 52-degree wedge shot and quickly went two under par.

“I was happy when I saw it go in,” said Henderson, a member of Team Canada’s developmental team. “My sister, Brittany, was my caddie. She said, “˜Nice shot.'”

A wedge to within seven feet of the hole at the par-5 eighth gave Henderson a second birdie. At the par-5 16th, she managed to 2-putt from 50 feet for a birdie. She birdied the 17th from 8 feet, but then stumbled to a bogey on the home hole.

Minjee Lee, of Australia, who won last month’s Girls’ Junior over Alison Lee, closed with two bogeys in her final three holes to return an even-par 72. Moriya Jutanugarn, of Thailand, the 2011 Women’s Amateur runner-up, carded a 2-over 74, while her sister, Ariya Jutanugarn, the 2011 Girls’ Junior champion, returned a 1-under 71.

Latanna Stone, the youngest competitor in championship history at 10 years old, opened with a 10-over 82.

Tiffany Lua, a member of the 2010 and 2012 USA Curtis Cup Teams, was forced to withdraw after 11 holes with a left-wrist injury.

Results

Cleveland ““ Results from Monday’s opening round of stroke play at the 2012 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship, being conducted at the 6,512-yard, par-72 course at The Country Club: